2024 property tax hike: What's the impact on homeowners and tenants in Singapore?

Everything is going up in price, so it comes as little surprise that property taxes are too. Rising Annual Value (AV) will apply to most homes across the board; but it’s the higher-end properties that will see the biggest impact.

It may also bear consequences for tenants, as landlords may pass down the costs. Here are the possible consequences ahead:

What’s the rise in property taxes like?

For owner-occupied properties, these were the tax rates in 2023:

As of 2024, this has increased to the following:

Annual Value ($)	Effective Jan 1, 2024	Property Tax Payable
First $8,000 Next $22,000	Zero per cent Four per cent	$0 $880
First $30,000 Next $10,000	– Six per cent	$880 $600
First $40,000 Next $15,000	– 10 per cent	$1,480 $1,500
First $55,000 Next $15,000	– 14 per cent	$2,980 $2,100
First $70,000 Next $15,000	– 20 per cent	$5,080 $3,000
First $85,000 Next $15,000	– 26 per cent	$8,080 $3,900
First $100,000 Above $100,000	– 32 per cent	$11,980

For non-owner occupied properties, here’s the property tax rate last year:

Annual Value ($)	Effective Jan 1, 2023	Property Tax Payable
First 30,000 Next $15,000	11 per cent 16 per cent	$3,300 $2,400
First $45,000 Next $15,000	– 21 per cent	$5,700 $3,150
First $60,000 Above $60,000	– 27 per cent	$8,850

And here’s the property tax rate we’ll see from Jan 1, 2024:

Annual Value ($)	Effective Jan 1, 2024	Property Tax Payable
First $30,000 Next $15,000	12 per cent 20 per cent	$3,600 $3,000
First $45,000 Next $15,000	– 28 per cent	$6,600 $4,200
First $60,000 Above $60,000	– 36 per cent	$10,800

As you can see, it’s mainly the properties with a higher AV that are affected. But this is where rate increases – such as due to the rise in property values and rental rates the past year – may have an impact.

The tax increases are not unexpected by the way, as they have been rolled out since the announcement of Budget 2022. 

The assigned AV is an estimation of your home’s rental value, in an unfurnished state, minus its maintenance fees. You can find the AV of your specific property here. 

In general, most HDB properties will have an AV of under $12,000, while most condos will have an AV of about $20,000 to $30,000. Anything higher than that is usually (but not always) a landed property of some sort. 

The government is quite generous in this regard, as estimated AV is often below the actual rental rate.

It’s unlikely, for instance, that even the smallest bungalow or semi-detached house would cost as little as $60,000 a year to rent in whole; and yet we may see such properties with an even lower AV than that. 

Mainly a concern to investors 

For owner-occupiers of HDB flats, these property tax increases are trivial (likely to stay under $30 a month, even for larger executive flats.) However, the increase can matter to landlords, who are renting out private properties. 

Take, for instance, a rented-out condo unit that has its annual value bumped from $40,000 to $45,000. In the previous year, at an annual value of $40,000, the landlord would have paid a property tax of $4,900. 

Most realtors, however, opined that it would be maintenance rates and interest rates, and not so much property taxes, that would discourage investment.

However, they did tell us that the combination of all three would make it difficult for landlords to lower rental rates further, even as rising supply presents tenants with more options. 

If the AV reaches $45,000 in 2024, this amount is increased to $6,600, translating to just over $141 a month in added costs. Not a seemingly huge amount in itself, but keep in mind that the increase follows rising interest rates, as well as rising condo maintenance costs. 

One realtor also told us that there’s natural "compensation" for the rising property tax, if we consider how AV is calculated. He says:

"AV is based on current market rates. If your property value is going up, and your location is improving, then AV and property tax also go up. But I would take it as a good sign. That means your area is being upgraded, people now pay more to live there. If now there is an MRT station at your doorstep, your AV and tax may go up, but the increase in your rent and resale gains easily make up for that."

We are getting a one-time rebate in 2024

Just for the coming year only, there’s a one-time property tax rebate. Unfortunately, it’s for owner-occupied properties only. The amounts are as follows:

One & two-room flat	Three-room flat	Four-room flat	Five-room flat	Executive HDB	Private property
100 per cent (You pay nothing)	70 per cent	50 per cent	40 per cent	30 per cent	15 per cent; capped at $1,000

This isn’t a huge amount, but every little bit helps. 2024 is shaping up to be an expensive year, and some homeowners are still adapting to their higher home loan rates. 

ALSO READ: Government introduces one-off property tax rebate for homeowners, this is how it impacts you

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.